'We're afraid of wasting food'

The reasons these customers gave for breaking the restaurant's rules left everyone astonished.

In late April 2023, an incident involving three customers sharing a buffet meal and arguing with staff in Hebei Province, China, caused a stir on social media in the country. Specifically, one of the three customers purchased a buffet meal worth 35 RMB (approximately 120,000 VND), while the other two bought instant noodles. The restaurant had a separate area for those eating instant noodles, but these two customers sat in the unlimited self-service area with their friend and ordered food from the same buffet.

When reminded by staff that they were violating restaurant rules, one customer in the group angrily said, "I paid in full, and I'm afraid of wasting food, so what if we share? You don't need to worry about how much we pay, how much we take, or how much food we eat ." This customer then demanded that the staff call the restaurant manager to continue the argument. Realizing that reasoning with this group was futile, the waiter turned and left to avoid disturbing other customers.

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Surprisingly, the group of customers later posted a video of the incident on social media with the intention of letting netizens judge who was right and who was wrong. This news quickly topped the search rankings with over 10,000 related posts across all social media platforms. The restaurant contacted the customers to explain that buffet prices are calculated per person and that three people sharing one portion is not allowed.

Netizens sided with the restaurant, criticizing the actions of the three customers who violated the rules and even raised their voices at the staff member who was doing their job correctly. "If they felt they wouldn't finish their meal and were worried about wasting food, they should have chosen to order à la carte or gone to another restaurant. If three people share one serving like that, what profit does the restaurant make?" commented a user surnamed Pham.

Some people argued that the group of customers may not have fully understood the buffet rules and did not intend to take advantage of the restaurant. However, those defending the restaurant still prevailed, reminding everyone to respect the rules when dining out.

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This isn't the first time disputes have erupted between customers and buffet restaurants. Previously, the case of a female customer surnamed Xu in Guizhou Province (China) who, after eating at a buffet costing 218 RMB per person (over 700,000 VND) five times a month, secretly took a large amount of food home from the restaurant also caused a stir.

The restaurant this woman visited was a Japanese restaurant with a clear rule that buffet customers were not allowed to take food home in bulk; wasting more than 100 grams would incur a fee. The customer in question always went alone but stayed for up to 5 hours and ordered many dishes. Staff noticed that the woman brought many small bags to put the food in.

After discovering the incident, the staff reminded Ms. Xu, but she quickly left. The total cost of the meals Ms. Xu took home amounted to 45,653 RMB (over 150 million VND), but she only agreed to compensate for 5 buffet meals, equivalent to over 1,000 RMB (over 3 million VND). As a result, the restaurant owner filed a lawsuit against Ms. Xu. She had to pay the compensation to the restaurant plus an additional 8,000 RMB (approximately 26 million VND) in legal fees.

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In early April 2023, two women in Zhejiang Province, China, were arrested by police for secretly packing up 20,000 yuan worth of food to take home from a buffet restaurant. According to their confession, the two customers felt the buffet price was too high, so they decided to pack up premium items like frog meat, shrimp, foie gras, and salmon to avoid losses. The restaurant owner discovered this and immediately called the police. Ultimately, the women's families had to apologize and compensate the restaurant 400 yuan.

The restaurant owner said that they accept customers who don't finish their food and take home small portions of dessert. "However, the behavior of these two people was terrible. All the ingredients at the restaurant are fresh, and we charge reasonable prices; we don't make much profit at all. They secretly took food in front of the children who were with them, and that could set a bad example that the children might easily imitate," the owner said.

Kim Linh (According to Toutiao)

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/khach-mua-1-suat-buffet-120000-dong-cho-3-nguoi-bi-nha-hang-nhac-nho-lien-phan-ung-chung-toi-so-lang-phi-do-an-172250121072053216.htm